April 25, 2026 • 34 mins
7:05am – Dean provides advice to a caller dealing with debris in their insulation.
7:20am - Dean talks pavement replacements and city permits.
7:35am – Dean talks replacing roofs and shingles.
7:50am – Dean dives into re-stuccoing.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisperer on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Good morning
and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer, custom
home Builder, custom home designer, and your guide to better
understanding that place where you live. Good Saturday morning to you.
(00:23):
Welcome to the second hour of our early morning Saturday show.
It's just a few minutes after seven. Are you up now, Finally,
we've been waiting for you. We've been knocking on your
door the entire time. I mean, come on, wake up,
get with it, join us on the program here. No,
it's fine, it's fine. It's Saturday. I get it. I
get it. But if you're up and you're tuning in,
(00:46):
thank you for tuning into the show. I always intend
to make it worth your while. As it is every
Saturday morning. Today is an all call Saturday Morning, which
means you're in charge of what we're talking about. We've
got some calls on the board that we're going to
get to in just a second, but let me give
out the number eight three three two. Ask Dean eight
(01:07):
three three the numeral two ask Dean eight three three
two ask Dean, anything that's going on with your home
got you scratching your head. You got a design question,
you got a construction issue, whatever the case may be,
I'm here to help you out. All right, without any
further ado, let us go back to the phones. Let's
(01:28):
talk to Bertie. Hey, Bertie, welcome home, Dean.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's Rudy.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, Rudy. I'm sorry it was written here improperly on
our call prompter. And Rudy, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Bud good? Thank you. About five years ago, I had
installation blowing into my attic, and then subsequent to that,
I had a wood shape roof removed and it created
a lot of dust and debris on the insallation. So
I'm I'm thinking about having it replaced, and I was
(02:05):
wondering what your opinion is on having that cellulate blown
back in versus fiberglass being rolled in, and I wanted
to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, I have very strong opinions on it. So I'm
glad you called.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, you know. By the way, just an FYI to
anybody who's thinking about having their roof replace like an
old shake roof or tear off like that, You've got
an old roof, and you still have the slats up there,
and if you look up under in between those slats,
if you don't see actual plywood or OSB board in between,
if you actually see just roofing paper and the shingles
(02:46):
that selves, that's a very very old roof. Congratulations that
it's lasted this long. But if you're planning on having
that done in the near future, don't don't insulate ahead
of time. Wait, because it's going to make a mess
and the inside, and then you clean that all up,
like Rudy is talking about, and then put the new insulation,
and that's the proper order to do things. I'm sure
(03:07):
Rudy didn't anticipate that when when it was initially happening,
but now he wants to clean it all up. And yeah,
here's the thing. Number One. I prefer cellulose insulation and
mineral wool insulation over fiberglass insulation because it's a better insulator,
(03:29):
just better. It's less irritating on us because those two
products are not made out of a small microscopic shards
of glass like fiberglass is, and it's a more dense insulator.
It is less of a habitable home for rodents and
(03:50):
bugs and stuff like that. I mean, there's just a
number of reasons why I prefer that over fiberglass. Now,
fiberglass is the least expensive current form of attic, but
the other stuff is not that much more expensive, and
there's not that much space up there, and so I
highly recommend that you go for a rock woll or
(04:10):
a blown in cellulose insulation that's been treated with bor rates. Now,
when it comes to rolls versus blown in, I'm always
a blown in guy. And I know people are like, oh,
that makes such a mess. It's so messy up there.
Most folks who live in southern California do not have
(04:31):
habitable attics, And so I think our dream is that
you every you know, every blue moon, when you stick
your head up in your attic, you like seeing those
nice bats just laying out nice and flat, and it
all seems very neat and tidy. The problem with bats
is that, number one, it's very difficult to get them
all the way down to the little angle corner where
(04:53):
the roofline and the attic floor meet, so you don't
get complete coverage most of the time. Secondly, you don't
get complete coverage anywhere with bats because the bats go
in between the studs, in between the ceiling joye and
not on top of the ceiling joys. And because they
(05:14):
go in between the ceiling joys, that piece of wood
that is the ceiling joyce becomes the you know, the
thermal leak, and so an attic that's insulated with bats
is leaking. It's a leaky boat, and it's just not
as efficient. Whereas a blanket of blown in covers. Everything
helps to air seal the attic covers over the tops
(05:38):
of the joye, and it's also very easy to top
off as it settles over the years, just to add
another layer of insulation. It's easier to apply as well.
So I'm all about the thermal insulation is there first
and foremost not to make your attic look pretty, but
to do the job of sealing up and holding thermal
conditions present inside your home. And nothing does that better
(06:02):
than a blown in situation. The only other alternative to
that would be spray foam insulation. It's mega expensive, most
people don't go in that direction. So in the reasonably
priced attic insulation world, blown in insulation is, in my opinion,
your best bet scientifically it's been tested again and again.
(06:24):
It forms the best thermal barrier, much much better than
bats because every seam of a bat insulation is a
thermal leak.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And Dean, how about that versus seeing the rafters with
a foil to sort with insulation.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, okay, so the rafters getting the insulation up into
the rafters is great, it's fantastic. It means that you
could really have a conditioned attic space, but most rafters
are not deep enough for traditional insulation to get the
(07:06):
full you know, R nineteen plus and R thirty is
really what you're really hoping for up in the attic,
the you know, the proper insulating quality in the attic
because the rafters themselves. Unless you've got you know, big
two by ten rafters or two by twelve rafters, which
is just on big mega homes with gigantic roofs, you
(07:27):
don't have enough depth there in the rafters. So that's
why if you do rafter insulation, it's going to be
more expensive, but it'll be the spray foam because spray
foam can get all of that done in just a
few inches. And so that's why a lot of homes
that do exterior envelope insulating, meaning that the attic itself
is not insulated. The roofline is insulated. You got to
(07:49):
use spray foam for that, and believe me, I'm all
for it. If if it's in your budget and you
want to go that direction, then you don't have to
edit any cellulose or fiberglass or anything up in the
act at all, and you can even use the attic
for storage and have a nice clean open space up
there if you want. But the spray foam costs because
the R value per inch is so much higher in
(08:11):
spray foam. That's why it will work for the rafters.
But traditional stuff typically doesn't fit up there in the rafters,
and if you squeeze it in to make it fit,
you're spoiling the effect. That's something also a lot of
folks don't understand is that you can't go buy an
R thirty bat of insulation that is, you know, fourteen
(08:32):
sixteen inches thick. When you unroll it and then squeeze
that down into you know, a six inch space in
between the rafters, you've just negated half of its insulating value.
It needs to stay lofty in order to have its
full insulating value. So you've turned that R thirty into
an R fifteen by squeezing it into that smaller space.
(08:55):
So that's why the rafters need the spray foam. But
if we're talking, if we're going to avoid that, then
on the floor of the attic, it's got to be
blown in in my.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Opinion, got it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Thanks so much, appreciate your input on that.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
You are very very welcome, my friend. Great question and
always a concern for people. And by the way, if
you've got one thing you can do to prep your
home for summer as opposed to replacing the air conditioner
or doing something more extreme like that, insulating the attic.
Reinsulating the attic will make a world of difference, biggest
(09:31):
ROI bang for the buck for that and it happens quick,
quick and easy. All right, when we come back, more
of your calls your home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
and we are back. Dean Sharp, the house whisper, here
to help you take your home to the next level.
It's an all call Saturday morning. We're talking all things
(09:52):
about your home, and you, my friend, are the star
of the show. You are setting the agenda. I am
just here to respond to your questions today. The phone
number to reach me eight three to three to ask
Dean eight three to three, the numeral to ask dean. Dean,
why do you ask for calls when you already have
enough calls to finish out the show on the board.
(10:12):
I'll tell you why, because there's still an opportunity for
you to call in. Because I don't pick calls in
the order that they come in. We pick them at random,
which means a brand new caller has just as good
a chance of getting on the air as somebody who's
has been on hold for a while. That may sound cruel,
but it's just the way that we honor the fairness
(10:34):
of the call in system. So yeah, if you've got
a question, you never know you might get on the air.
So let's get back to the phones. I want to
talk to Steven, somebody who has been on hold for
a while. Steven, thanks for hanging in there and welcome home.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Good morning Dean. The driveway and portions of the sidewalk
adjacent to my property line A to B replaced is
that though the responsibility of the homeowner, and if so,
can it be performed with without permit or does it
(11:12):
need to have a built in permit.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Uh okay, so that is my official answer is it depends.
So here's here's I'll give you the general layout. Flat work.
Flat work that's that's pouring concrete on the outside of
your house. As a general rule, flat work does not
require a permit. So your walk path up to your house,
(11:40):
the largest portion of the driveway that is, you know,
just adjacent to the garage or whatever. Typically most cities,
and you should always check with your city, but most
cities do not require permit for flat work work because
it's nonstructural in the sense that it's not holding up
the house and and anything like that. However, however, the
(12:02):
closer we get to the street, the more gray that
area becomes, until it becomes an issue where it's absolutely
a thing. The the swale or what we call the apron,
you know, the sloped swaling part that actually connects to
the curb and touches the straight I don't know of
any municipality that doesn't require a an encroachment permit for
(12:25):
having that replaced. And the portion of the sidewalk that
runs through the driveway. If you've got a sidewalk that
you know that runs passed and through the driveway. That's
part of the public right of way as well, and
that also requires permitting for that. Now, after the sidewalk,
(12:45):
from the sidewalk up to the garage, that's one hundred
percent on your property. Most cities don't require a permit
for that flat work, but you should always check. Okay,
the swale and the sidewalk. Now, now the question is
whose responsibility is it. Typically sidewalk responsibility is the responsibility
(13:08):
of the city to maintain. So if it's been damaged,
if it's got tree roots under it, if it's uplifted,
if it's a if it's a concern, then then it's
ultimately the city's responsibility to take care of that.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Strangely enough, the apron on the other side of the sidewalk.
Most some cities take responsibility for it, and other cities say, no,
that's ultimately on you, the homeowner. But you have to
pull permits with us, and we have to inspect it
to make sure you do it right. Yeah, that's a
head scratcher, But generally speaking, the logic holds from the
(13:44):
sidewalk out to the street, that is public right of
way area and it's generally something that the city takes
responsibility for. Now. I've seen the city come out and
fix using air quotes here fix sidewalks by packing like
a a high area of the sidewalk with asphalt to
smooth it out a little bit or to you know,
(14:05):
so it doesn't and I just like, that's not a
good fix at all. I want you to take out
that section of sidewalk, get rid of the tree root,
and lay it straight and level. Again, the city, at
their discretion may choose to, you know, do it the
cheap way. If you want to do it the right way,
they're usually open to that. But again, it's your dollar
(14:27):
and they're going to want you to pull a permit
for it. So you got to check with the city,
have that conversation with them and find out what they're
up for. But generally speaking from the from the edge
of the street, the swale or the apron, the curvy
part of your driveway, the sloped part, and the sidewalk
(14:48):
that falls generally within the city's purview and beyond that
that's yours and normally doesn't require a permit for redoing
that part of the driveway. Does that help.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
It's been very informative. I so I do need to
check with the city first.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Yeah, absolutely, because you know every city's rules when it
comes to that are different. So a quick call to
the city, you talk to somebody there in public Works.
They'll tell you exactly where their responsibility ends and yours begins,
and you'll know exactly where you want to proceed from there.
(15:27):
I have replaced, I've moved. We do this all the time,
Like we're changing the location of the driveway coming into
the house. So I've got to go get an encroachment
permit from the city because I'm going to rebuild the curb.
I'm going to put a new swale in and a
different location, or widen the driveway that exists the way
that it touches the streets. So I know for a
fact that encroachment permits and that kind of stuff. The
(15:50):
city is more than happy most of the time to
get new swales put in at owner's expense, And it
would be owner's expense if you want to make that change.
But as far as responsible and permits, they're the ones
who have to determine what you need. And when.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I see a contractor that I've spoken to indicated that
he's done it both ways with permit and without. When
he does it without a permit, he he documents everything
and he actually constructs it according to the permit requirements
or the city requirements just in case they question.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Yeah, the correct that my friend is a contractor who
knows that he's supposed to pull a permit, but just
wants to get it done for the home owner. And
so you're documenting it along the way because if he
gets called, if he gets busted and called to the table,
then instead of tearing it out and starting over, he's
going to make his case that he did it the
(16:52):
right way. So yeah, I'm well familiar with that process.
Trust me. Just talk to the city. The permits are
not you know, my encroachment permits are you know, a
few hundred bucks at the most, and so they're not
going to ruin your project or your budget. Talk to
the city, save yourself a bunch of hassles instead of
(17:13):
trying to pull one over on them and make your
argument after the case, because sometimes they're not up for
the photo documentation. Afterwards they're just like, Nope, we weren't here,
you knew better pull it out, let's do it again
and that's something you don't want to do your project
twice Steven, Thanks for your call, my friend. We are
(17:33):
going to go to a break and when we come back,
more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp the
House Whisper. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty. Dean Sharp the House
Whisper Here to transform your ordinary house into something truly
(17:54):
truly extraordinary. Yes, it can be done. I have yet
to meet a house that doesn't have a path forward.
Just about finding it. Helping you find it is why
I'm here every single week Saturdays. It's all calls Saturdays,
every Saturday morning. You get to determine what the show
is about by giving me a call. We got calls
(18:14):
on the board, so let's get back into it. Let's
see here. I want to talk to Tom. Hey, Tom,
Welcome home.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Game, Good morning. I have two questions about my roof.
My roof is about twenty five thirty years old. When
it rains, I'm seeing more and more granules come off
the roof, so I know it's going to need to
be replaced. The roof doesn't leak. But here's my question.
There's one layer of shingles on the roof if I
have the option, Well, my question is what are the
(18:45):
pros and cons of basically adding a layer of shingles
on top of the existing singles compared to stripping the
roof and starting with the fresh memory you know, self
ceiling numbering right right?
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Okay, so pros and cons. Pros and cons. You get twenty
five year old roof starting to lose its granulation, so
the time is now, The time is good before it
springs any leaks and causes any damage inside the house
to reroof get a new roof up there. The pros
of putting a second layer, and by the way, everybody,
(19:18):
you only get two layers if you're going to get
roof over, that's what we call it a roofover. If
you're going to put new asphalt shingles over the top
of old asphalt shingles, you get to do it once,
and then once you've got two layers, no more layers
can be added to that roof. So the next time
around it's going to be a full tear off, meaning
all the way down to the sheathing boards and then
(19:42):
new membrane, new roofing material. The pros for doing that
only pro. There's only one, and that is you're going
to save money on labor and disposal fees of the
old roof, which you know you'll save about maybe forty percent,
not in the overall job, percent in labor, so you
(20:02):
know you can reduce the cost of the reroof by
a significant amount. Okay, that's the only pro, the only pro.
We don't recommend it if you're if you're in you know,
if you're in a tough situation and dire straits. Then
sometimes you know, I mean, I don't tell people it's
it's idiotic or stupid to do with their own home
(20:25):
because you know, I'm not the person who manages your finances,
and I get it. Sometimes people just need to keep
a roof over their head and basically, you know, kick
the can down the road some So I'm never going
to tell anybody that it's not the right move, but
I will tell you it's not recommended. And it's not
(20:45):
recommended because you've got a twenty five year old roof.
You have an opportunity now to clear it off and
do as you said, put up a much much far
superior membrane that's going to last way more than twenty
five years this next time, and brand new shingles on
top of that, which is how they were meant to
be installed. You put new shingles over existing shingles, and
(21:10):
number one, the warranty for that new roofing material is gone,
because no manufacturer is going to warrant their shingles on
top of an old shingle and membrane system. Shingles are
not designed to lay on top of older shingles because
there's too much air space that it gets created when
(21:32):
you put those bumpy shingles over other bumpy shingles, And
why is that an issue? Airspace allows for moisture to
encroach and get inside underneath the new layer and on
top of the old layer. That moisture, it's not going
to create a leak, but that moisture causes undue deterioration
of both materials. The trapped moisture causes algae growth, It
(21:57):
causes all sorts of stuff that starts eating away and
tear rating. So let's say you're buying a twenty five
year shingle, you're going to put it over an existing roof.
You can reasonably expect that you're going to get a
half life out of that new roofing shingle system because
of the way it's laid down on top of the
(22:18):
old stuff. Now, is that always the case? Are there
exceptions to every real Sure there are, but that's why
we don't recommend it.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Okay, So my second question involves ember vents, so well,
the main question is should I replace I have a
turbine spinning vent, and should I replace that vent. I
live in Altabina. I've already retrofitted.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
The dorm events.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
We were pretty lucky not take that our house can
catch on fire because you did have club day. Ask
inside the attic so that we have some some embers
I believe did come through the turbine vent, and I
think I know the answer is whether I should replace
that or not. But when you look at the brain
Guard and Vocal website, they don't really have like turbine vents.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, turbine vent, Yeah, you should replace it and replace
it with an ember proof vent turbine vents. I don't
recommend turbine vents on a home. They have a purpose
in a factory setting, but we generally find that turbine
vents is kind of an outdated modality. It's sort of
(23:26):
a it's unnecessary, and it's also it's just not attractive
as well. On top of that, so the designer in
me is also given the thumbs up, like, yeah, let's
lose the turbine vents. Vent placement is far more important
than having some kind of active turbine, and there is
a slight increase in airflow with the turbine event because
(23:49):
once it starts going, it actually creates a little bit
of an additional vacuum, but it's really more of a
show than than you know, it's more smoke than fire,
to put it in those terms, because it's the convecting
air that's causing the turbine to spin, not the other
way around. It's not the turbine spinning that's sucking out
(24:12):
the convection air. So it's just really not necessary. So
a good low profile O'Hagan style vent or anything that's
on the you know, the Ember Proof Vent Company website,
and the best place to do it is instead of
having a turbine like mid roof which so many of
them are, just get proper ventilation down by the eaves
(24:35):
lower and then the roof vent itself as high near
the ridge as possible. So that you get the full
effect of the convection flow inside the attic to pull
that heat out.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Because we have a whole house fan, I just want
to make sure we're a good airflow.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, understood. Yeah, I just don't
worry about those motorized vents. If far better if you've
got an and gable on a roof to put a
an attic fan in there and blow air out that way.
Then using the you know, the turbine, the little wirly
top turbins. There is just I know of no roofer
(25:13):
that I've used in the last twenty years that has
ever said, yeah, let's put a turbine vent up there.
Just proper vent place enough of them in the right place.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
Great Wendin, thank you very much. I appreciate your interest.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Tom. You are very very welcome, my friend. Great question.
All right, when we come back, more of your calls
your home with Dean Sharp house Whisper. Dean Sharp the
house Whisper here to remind you every home can have
great design. It's not about the luxury. Luxury and custom
are very very different things. They're totally separate categories. By
(25:47):
the way, most people conflate the two because the industry
as a whole wants you to. But I don't want
you to conflate those two things together. I don't want
you to get them mixed up and confused. There is
something very very different between luxury, which is, you know,
all sorts of expensive stuff, and custom, which is tailoring.
(26:08):
That's essentially what it is. You know, I say this
all the time. I'll say to you again. You could
go on a shopping spree and go find some fancy
shirt in some high end store and go down to
Rodeo Drive and pull a ten thousand dollars silk shirt
off of the rack down there and walk out feeling
(26:30):
like a million bucks. You'd have to have a million
dollars to buy a ten thousand dollar shirt and feel
good about it. But the point is this, that was
still a shirt that was made for a kind of
sort of person, hopefully sort of your size, but it
was not designed for any one individual personally. Or we
(26:53):
could go down to I don't know, the fabric store
like Joeanne Fabric or wherever and buy a bolt of cotton,
good old fashioned, just knit cotton, and hand it to
a tailor and spend a little bit of money, having
every inch angle and measurement on you fitted into that shirt.
(27:17):
And you know what I'm saying. I'm saying, I'm betting
ninety nine nine, nine hundred and ninety nine times out
of a thousand that not the ten thousand dollars shirt,
that little cotton shirt becomes your favorite shirt. Why because
it's custom tailored to you. That's what a custom home is.
A custom home does not need to be a luxury home.
(27:40):
A custom home is a home that is your home,
fit for your life. And around here we like to
say that custom is the ultimate expression of luxury. That's
really where it's at. Anyway, just wanted to encourage you
with that tomorrow on the show. By the way, before
I get to our last call today tomorrow on the show,
(28:03):
the Deep Dive on the Big Show tomorrow, Ten steps
to finding the right contractor, And I've got my list
made out, I've got lots of insights for you, and
we're going to deep dive on it. So if you've
struggled with that, if you've thought about that, if you're
in that process, you're not going to want to miss
the Big Show tomorrow. Ten steps to finding a right
(28:25):
contractor that'll be right here from nine to noon Pacific
time tomorrow. Just make the adjustments wherever you are and
join me for that very special show. All right, it's
an all call Saturday morning. I've got time to do
one more hit. Let's talk to Ryan. Hey, Ryan, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Good morning. Our neighborhood is a late forties neighborhood, frame
construction homes on raised concrete foundations. The homes were stuccoed
all the way down to the ground and even underneath
the ground a little bit. Ye a combination of reality and.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Weed eaters.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
The bottom about foot of stucco is just completely destroyed
all the way around. We were thinking of having it redone,
and we're wondering about either what to put at the
bottom or having it cut up like a foot or
half a foot or something and putting in a weep
screed under the new stucco. What should we do?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
That's exactly what you should do if you're having that issue.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Now.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Some homes have gotten lucky and they've got their stucco
going all the way into the soil and they're not
having major problems with it. But it's not the right
way to do it. It's how it was done back
in the day, because honestly, you know, building science continues
to evolve, and so there were no such thing as
weep screed codes back then, but there is now. And
(29:57):
so what we don't want is we don't want to
put the exterior stucco on the house down in contact
with soil or moisture of any type whatsoever. Because stucco
is concrete, and because water has such a high surface
tension value, it can move against gravity through capillary action,
(30:19):
that's what we call it. Water can climb up inside
a concrete structure at least a foot without stopping. And
that's a lot of water up inside the stucco. And
I get calls all the time. You have people pointing
out to me, my stucco's ruined. Why is it bubbling?
Why am I getting all this white chalky stuff on
the end, you know, why is it peeling off? And
(30:41):
it's always always always water moisture. So yeah, going around
the house cutting back the stucco now, and you don't
have to go to extremes. The coat is very simple.
Stucco should be at least the bottom of the stucco
should at least be two inches above any hard surface words,
if you've got concrete or patios two inches above that
(31:05):
to the bottom of the weep screed four inches above
open soil. Of course you can go higher if you want,
but that's the code, and it's very very effective. A
weep screed, by the way, everybody, is a flashing that
is triangular shaped. It has a full flashing on the
top where it catches moisture from the backside of the
(31:26):
stucco and the building paper and channels it out. And
on the bottom of the weep screed there are holes
where the stucco, which always picks up some level of moisture,
is allowed to weep that moisture out from the bottom
edge of the stucco. It also makes very very very
clean finish for the bottom of your stucco all the
(31:46):
way around your house. And no, you can't really see
it because it's a very incognito just a final light.
That's what we call it a screed because it forms
a beautiful bottom line to a stuck go finish on
a house, but above the soil line. And that's the
magic of the weep screen. And yes, any home you
(32:07):
can have the stucco cut back. They've got to break
it up a little bit so they can tie it
properly into the paper and attach the weep screen, and
then they'll repatch that little section. I want you to know, though,
the one thing from the esthetics standpoint, both the builder
and me loves this, and the designer when it comes
to adding weep screed or any kind of stucco patch
(32:28):
around your home, there's no chance whatsoever that that patch
is not going to be visible. Because even if you
use the exact same finish, the exact same technique, the
fact of the matter is, on the day that that
stucco was put on, the guy was applying a certain
amount of pressure and his move his hand was moving
a certain way, and this new stuff. You know, I've
(32:51):
seen some very talented stucco guys try and blend it in,
but they won't. And so the fool proof method for
never seeing any stucco patch is going ahead, patching up
the stucco, getting it done, and then committing to a
new finish coat. That's only the top eighth inch, a
new finish coat of stucco on the whole wall. Okay,
(33:13):
if you do the top coat finish coat new on
the whole wall, all patches disappear, you'll never know that
there was ever a patch and any manipulation of the
stucco whatsoever. So go for the new finish coat, but
have the patchwork done you know wherever you need to
have it done. Ryan, thank you for your question, sir,
(33:33):
great question, great call, great calls this morning. Thanks to
everybody for joining in, and don't miss tomorrow the big show.
We'll be talking about the ten steps to finding a
great contractor can it be done? Yeah, it's so can
be done, but you got to step up and do
the work because this is your home. So you do
(33:54):
your work up front according to our guidelines. You're not
going to have a disastrous it's going to be a
great adventure and you're gonna love the results. That's tomorrow,
don't miss it from nine to noon Pacific time. Until then,
get out into this day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life, and we will see you tomorrow. This
(34:16):
has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time. Or anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp, The
House Whisperer on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Good morning
and welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer, custom
home Builder, custom home designer, and your guide to better
understanding that place where you live. Good Saturday morning to you.
(00:23):
Welcome to the second hour of our early morning Saturday show.
It's just a few minutes after seven. Are you up now, Finally,
we've been waiting for you. We've been knocking on your
door the entire time. I mean, come on, wake up,
get with it, join us on the program here. No,
it's fine, it's fine. It's Saturday. I get it. I
get it. But if you're up and you're tuning in,
(00:46):
thank you for tuning into the show. I always intend
to make it worth your while. As it is every
Saturday morning. Today is an all call Saturday Morning, which
means you're in charge of what we're talking about. We've
got some calls on the board that we're going to
get to in just a second, but let me give
out the number eight three three two. Ask Dean eight
(01:07):
three three the numeral two ask Dean eight three three
two ask Dean, anything that's going on with your home
got you scratching your head. You got a design question,
you got a construction issue, whatever the case may be,
I'm here to help you out. All right, without any
further ado, let us go back to the phones. Let's
(01:28):
talk to Bertie. Hey, Bertie, welcome home, Dean.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's Rudy.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Oh, Rudy. I'm sorry it was written here improperly on
our call prompter. And Rudy, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Bud good? Thank you. About five years ago, I had
installation blowing into my attic, and then subsequent to that,
I had a wood shape roof removed and it created
a lot of dust and debris on the insallation. So
I'm I'm thinking about having it replaced, and I was
(02:05):
wondering what your opinion is on having that cellulate blown
back in versus fiberglass being rolled in, and I wanted
to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, I have very strong opinions on it. So I'm
glad you called.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, you know. By the way, just an FYI to
anybody who's thinking about having their roof replace like an
old shake roof or tear off like that, You've got
an old roof, and you still have the slats up there,
and if you look up under in between those slats,
if you don't see actual plywood or OSB board in between,
if you actually see just roofing paper and the shingles
(02:46):
that selves, that's a very very old roof. Congratulations that
it's lasted this long. But if you're planning on having
that done in the near future, don't don't insulate ahead
of time. Wait, because it's going to make a mess
and the inside, and then you clean that all up,
like Rudy is talking about, and then put the new insulation,
and that's the proper order to do things. I'm sure
(03:07):
Rudy didn't anticipate that when when it was initially happening,
but now he wants to clean it all up. And yeah,
here's the thing. Number One. I prefer cellulose insulation and
mineral wool insulation over fiberglass insulation because it's a better insulator,
(03:29):
just better. It's less irritating on us because those two
products are not made out of a small microscopic shards
of glass like fiberglass is, and it's a more dense insulator.
It is less of a habitable home for rodents and
(03:50):
bugs and stuff like that. I mean, there's just a
number of reasons why I prefer that over fiberglass. Now,
fiberglass is the least expensive current form of attic, but
the other stuff is not that much more expensive, and
there's not that much space up there, and so I
highly recommend that you go for a rock woll or
(04:10):
a blown in cellulose insulation that's been treated with bor rates. Now,
when it comes to rolls versus blown in, I'm always
a blown in guy. And I know people are like, oh,
that makes such a mess. It's so messy up there.
Most folks who live in southern California do not have
(04:31):
habitable attics, And so I think our dream is that
you every you know, every blue moon, when you stick
your head up in your attic, you like seeing those
nice bats just laying out nice and flat, and it
all seems very neat and tidy. The problem with bats
is that, number one, it's very difficult to get them
all the way down to the little angle corner where
(04:53):
the roofline and the attic floor meet, so you don't
get complete coverage most of the time. Secondly, you don't
get complete coverage anywhere with bats because the bats go
in between the studs, in between the ceiling joye and
not on top of the ceiling joys. And because they
(05:14):
go in between the ceiling joys, that piece of wood
that is the ceiling joyce becomes the you know, the
thermal leak, and so an attic that's insulated with bats
is leaking. It's a leaky boat, and it's just not
as efficient. Whereas a blanket of blown in covers. Everything
helps to air seal the attic covers over the tops
(05:38):
of the joye, and it's also very easy to top
off as it settles over the years, just to add
another layer of insulation. It's easier to apply as well.
So I'm all about the thermal insulation is there first
and foremost not to make your attic look pretty, but
to do the job of sealing up and holding thermal
conditions present inside your home. And nothing does that better
(06:02):
than a blown in situation. The only other alternative to
that would be spray foam insulation. It's mega expensive, most
people don't go in that direction. So in the reasonably
priced attic insulation world, blown in insulation is, in my opinion,
your best bet scientifically it's been tested again and again.
(06:24):
It forms the best thermal barrier, much much better than
bats because every seam of a bat insulation is a
thermal leak.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And Dean, how about that versus seeing the rafters with
a foil to sort with insulation.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, okay, so the rafters getting the insulation up into
the rafters is great, it's fantastic. It means that you
could really have a conditioned attic space, but most rafters
are not deep enough for traditional insulation to get the
(07:06):
full you know, R nineteen plus and R thirty is
really what you're really hoping for up in the attic,
the you know, the proper insulating quality in the attic
because the rafters themselves. Unless you've got you know, big
two by ten rafters or two by twelve rafters, which
is just on big mega homes with gigantic roofs, you
(07:27):
don't have enough depth there in the rafters. So that's
why if you do rafter insulation, it's going to be
more expensive, but it'll be the spray foam because spray
foam can get all of that done in just a
few inches. And so that's why a lot of homes
that do exterior envelope insulating, meaning that the attic itself
is not insulated. The roofline is insulated. You got to
(07:49):
use spray foam for that, and believe me, I'm all
for it. If if it's in your budget and you
want to go that direction, then you don't have to
edit any cellulose or fiberglass or anything up in the
act at all, and you can even use the attic
for storage and have a nice clean open space up
there if you want. But the spray foam costs because
the R value per inch is so much higher in
(08:11):
spray foam. That's why it will work for the rafters.
But traditional stuff typically doesn't fit up there in the rafters,
and if you squeeze it in to make it fit,
you're spoiling the effect. That's something also a lot of
folks don't understand is that you can't go buy an
R thirty bat of insulation that is, you know, fourteen
(08:32):
sixteen inches thick. When you unroll it and then squeeze
that down into you know, a six inch space in
between the rafters, you've just negated half of its insulating value.
It needs to stay lofty in order to have its
full insulating value. So you've turned that R thirty into
an R fifteen by squeezing it into that smaller space.
(08:55):
So that's why the rafters need the spray foam. But
if we're talking, if we're going to avoid that, then
on the floor of the attic, it's got to be
blown in in my.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Opinion, got it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Thanks so much, appreciate your input on that.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
You are very very welcome, my friend. Great question and
always a concern for people. And by the way, if
you've got one thing you can do to prep your
home for summer as opposed to replacing the air conditioner
or doing something more extreme like that, insulating the attic.
Reinsulating the attic will make a world of difference, biggest
(09:31):
ROI bang for the buck for that and it happens quick,
quick and easy. All right, when we come back, more
of your calls your home with Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer,
and we are back. Dean Sharp, the house whisper, here
to help you take your home to the next level.
It's an all call Saturday morning. We're talking all things
(09:52):
about your home, and you, my friend, are the star
of the show. You are setting the agenda. I am
just here to respond to your questions today. The phone
number to reach me eight three to three to ask
Dean eight three to three, the numeral to ask dean. Dean,
why do you ask for calls when you already have
enough calls to finish out the show on the board.
(10:12):
I'll tell you why, because there's still an opportunity for
you to call in. Because I don't pick calls in
the order that they come in. We pick them at random,
which means a brand new caller has just as good
a chance of getting on the air as somebody who's
has been on hold for a while. That may sound cruel,
but it's just the way that we honor the fairness
(10:34):
of the call in system. So yeah, if you've got
a question, you never know you might get on the air.
So let's get back to the phones. I want to
talk to Steven, somebody who has been on hold for
a while. Steven, thanks for hanging in there and welcome home.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Good morning Dean. The driveway and portions of the sidewalk
adjacent to my property line A to B replaced is
that though the responsibility of the homeowner, and if so,
can it be performed with without permit or does it
(11:12):
need to have a built in permit.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Uh okay, so that is my official answer is it depends.
So here's here's I'll give you the general layout. Flat work.
Flat work that's that's pouring concrete on the outside of
your house. As a general rule, flat work does not
require a permit. So your walk path up to your house,
(11:40):
the largest portion of the driveway that is, you know,
just adjacent to the garage or whatever. Typically most cities,
and you should always check with your city, but most
cities do not require permit for flat work work because
it's nonstructural in the sense that it's not holding up
the house and and anything like that. However, however, the
(12:02):
closer we get to the street, the more gray that
area becomes, until it becomes an issue where it's absolutely
a thing. The the swale or what we call the apron,
you know, the sloped swaling part that actually connects to
the curb and touches the straight I don't know of
any municipality that doesn't require a an encroachment permit for
(12:25):
having that replaced. And the portion of the sidewalk that
runs through the driveway. If you've got a sidewalk that
you know that runs passed and through the driveway. That's
part of the public right of way as well, and
that also requires permitting for that. Now, after the sidewalk,
(12:45):
from the sidewalk up to the garage, that's one hundred
percent on your property. Most cities don't require a permit
for that flat work, but you should always check. Okay,
the swale and the sidewalk. Now, now the question is
whose responsibility is it. Typically sidewalk responsibility is the responsibility
(13:08):
of the city to maintain. So if it's been damaged,
if it's got tree roots under it, if it's uplifted,
if it's a if it's a concern, then then it's
ultimately the city's responsibility to take care of that.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Strangely enough, the apron on the other side of the sidewalk.
Most some cities take responsibility for it, and other cities say, no,
that's ultimately on you, the homeowner. But you have to
pull permits with us, and we have to inspect it
to make sure you do it right. Yeah, that's a
head scratcher, But generally speaking, the logic holds from the
(13:44):
sidewalk out to the street, that is public right of
way area and it's generally something that the city takes
responsibility for. Now. I've seen the city come out and
fix using air quotes here fix sidewalks by packing like
a a high area of the sidewalk with asphalt to
smooth it out a little bit or to you know,
(14:05):
so it doesn't and I just like, that's not a
good fix at all. I want you to take out
that section of sidewalk, get rid of the tree root,
and lay it straight and level. Again, the city, at
their discretion may choose to, you know, do it the
cheap way. If you want to do it the right way,
they're usually open to that. But again, it's your dollar
(14:27):
and they're going to want you to pull a permit
for it. So you got to check with the city,
have that conversation with them and find out what they're
up for. But generally speaking from the from the edge
of the street, the swale or the apron, the curvy
part of your driveway, the sloped part, and the sidewalk
(14:48):
that falls generally within the city's purview and beyond that
that's yours and normally doesn't require a permit for redoing
that part of the driveway. Does that help.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
It's been very informative. I so I do need to
check with the city first.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Yeah, absolutely, because you know every city's rules when it
comes to that are different. So a quick call to
the city, you talk to somebody there in public Works.
They'll tell you exactly where their responsibility ends and yours begins,
and you'll know exactly where you want to proceed from there.
(15:27):
I have replaced, I've moved. We do this all the time,
Like we're changing the location of the driveway coming into
the house. So I've got to go get an encroachment
permit from the city because I'm going to rebuild the curb.
I'm going to put a new swale in and a
different location, or widen the driveway that exists the way
that it touches the streets. So I know for a
fact that encroachment permits and that kind of stuff. The
(15:50):
city is more than happy most of the time to
get new swales put in at owner's expense, And it
would be owner's expense if you want to make that change.
But as far as responsible and permits, they're the ones
who have to determine what you need. And when.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
I see a contractor that I've spoken to indicated that
he's done it both ways with permit and without. When
he does it without a permit, he he documents everything
and he actually constructs it according to the permit requirements
or the city requirements just in case they question.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Yeah, the correct that my friend is a contractor who
knows that he's supposed to pull a permit, but just
wants to get it done for the home owner. And
so you're documenting it along the way because if he
gets called, if he gets busted and called to the table,
then instead of tearing it out and starting over, he's
going to make his case that he did it the
(16:52):
right way. So yeah, I'm well familiar with that process.
Trust me. Just talk to the city. The permits are
not you know, my encroachment permits are you know, a
few hundred bucks at the most, and so they're not
going to ruin your project or your budget. Talk to
the city, save yourself a bunch of hassles instead of
(17:13):
trying to pull one over on them and make your
argument after the case, because sometimes they're not up for
the photo documentation. Afterwards they're just like, Nope, we weren't here,
you knew better pull it out, let's do it again
and that's something you don't want to do your project
twice Steven, Thanks for your call, my friend. We are
(17:33):
going to go to a break and when we come back,
more of your calls. Your Home with Dean Sharp the
House Whisper. You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on
demand from KFI AM six forty. Dean Sharp the House
Whisper Here to transform your ordinary house into something truly
(17:54):
truly extraordinary. Yes, it can be done. I have yet
to meet a house that doesn't have a path forward.
Just about finding it. Helping you find it is why
I'm here every single week Saturdays. It's all calls Saturdays,
every Saturday morning. You get to determine what the show
is about by giving me a call. We got calls
(18:14):
on the board, so let's get back into it. Let's
see here. I want to talk to Tom. Hey, Tom,
Welcome home.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Game, Good morning. I have two questions about my roof.
My roof is about twenty five thirty years old. When
it rains, I'm seeing more and more granules come off
the roof, so I know it's going to need to
be replaced. The roof doesn't leak. But here's my question.
There's one layer of shingles on the roof if I
have the option, Well, my question is what are the
(18:45):
pros and cons of basically adding a layer of shingles
on top of the existing singles compared to stripping the
roof and starting with the fresh memory you know, self
ceiling numbering right right?
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Okay, so pros and cons. Pros and cons. You get twenty
five year old roof starting to lose its granulation, so
the time is now, The time is good before it
springs any leaks and causes any damage inside the house
to reroof get a new roof up there. The pros
of putting a second layer, and by the way, everybody,
(19:18):
you only get two layers if you're going to get
roof over, that's what we call it a roofover. If
you're going to put new asphalt shingles over the top
of old asphalt shingles, you get to do it once,
and then once you've got two layers, no more layers
can be added to that roof. So the next time
around it's going to be a full tear off, meaning
all the way down to the sheathing boards and then
(19:42):
new membrane, new roofing material. The pros for doing that
only pro. There's only one, and that is you're going
to save money on labor and disposal fees of the
old roof, which you know you'll save about maybe forty percent,
not in the overall job, percent in labor, so you
(20:02):
know you can reduce the cost of the reroof by
a significant amount. Okay, that's the only pro, the only pro.
We don't recommend it if you're if you're in you know,
if you're in a tough situation and dire straits. Then
sometimes you know, I mean, I don't tell people it's
it's idiotic or stupid to do with their own home
(20:25):
because you know, I'm not the person who manages your finances,
and I get it. Sometimes people just need to keep
a roof over their head and basically, you know, kick
the can down the road some So I'm never going
to tell anybody that it's not the right move, but
I will tell you it's not recommended. And it's not
(20:45):
recommended because you've got a twenty five year old roof.
You have an opportunity now to clear it off and
do as you said, put up a much much far
superior membrane that's going to last way more than twenty
five years this next time, and brand new shingles on
top of that, which is how they were meant to
be installed. You put new shingles over existing shingles, and
(21:10):
number one, the warranty for that new roofing material is gone,
because no manufacturer is going to warrant their shingles on
top of an old shingle and membrane system. Shingles are
not designed to lay on top of older shingles because
there's too much air space that it gets created when
(21:32):
you put those bumpy shingles over other bumpy shingles, And
why is that an issue? Airspace allows for moisture to
encroach and get inside underneath the new layer and on
top of the old layer. That moisture, it's not going
to create a leak, but that moisture causes undue deterioration
of both materials. The trapped moisture causes algae growth, It
(21:57):
causes all sorts of stuff that starts eating away and
tear rating. So let's say you're buying a twenty five
year shingle, you're going to put it over an existing roof.
You can reasonably expect that you're going to get a
half life out of that new roofing shingle system because
of the way it's laid down on top of the
(22:18):
old stuff. Now, is that always the case? Are there
exceptions to every real Sure there are, but that's why
we don't recommend it.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
Okay, So my second question involves ember vents, so well,
the main question is should I replace I have a
turbine spinning vent, and should I replace that vent. I
live in Altabina. I've already retrofitted.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
The dorm events.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
We were pretty lucky not take that our house can
catch on fire because you did have club day. Ask
inside the attic so that we have some some embers
I believe did come through the turbine vent, and I
think I know the answer is whether I should replace
that or not. But when you look at the brain
Guard and Vocal website, they don't really have like turbine vents.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, turbine vent, Yeah, you should replace it and replace
it with an ember proof vent turbine vents. I don't
recommend turbine vents on a home. They have a purpose
in a factory setting, but we generally find that turbine
vents is kind of an outdated modality. It's sort of
(23:26):
a it's unnecessary, and it's also it's just not attractive
as well. On top of that, so the designer in
me is also given the thumbs up, like, yeah, let's
lose the turbine vents. Vent placement is far more important
than having some kind of active turbine, and there is
a slight increase in airflow with the turbine event because
(23:49):
once it starts going, it actually creates a little bit
of an additional vacuum, but it's really more of a
show than than you know, it's more smoke than fire,
to put it in those terms, because it's the convecting
air that's causing the turbine to spin, not the other
way around. It's not the turbine spinning that's sucking out
(24:12):
the convection air. So it's just really not necessary. So
a good low profile O'Hagan style vent or anything that's
on the you know, the Ember Proof Vent Company website,
and the best place to do it is instead of
having a turbine like mid roof which so many of
them are, just get proper ventilation down by the eaves
(24:35):
lower and then the roof vent itself as high near
the ridge as possible. So that you get the full
effect of the convection flow inside the attic to pull
that heat out.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Because we have a whole house fan, I just want
to make sure we're a good airflow.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, understood. Yeah, I just don't
worry about those motorized vents. If far better if you've
got an and gable on a roof to put a
an attic fan in there and blow air out that way.
Then using the you know, the turbine, the little wirly
top turbins. There is just I know of no roofer
(25:13):
that I've used in the last twenty years that has
ever said, yeah, let's put a turbine vent up there.
Just proper vent place enough of them in the right place.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
Great Wendin, thank you very much. I appreciate your interest.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Tom. You are very very welcome, my friend. Great question.
All right, when we come back, more of your calls
your home with Dean Sharp house Whisper. Dean Sharp the
house Whisper here to remind you every home can have
great design. It's not about the luxury. Luxury and custom
are very very different things. They're totally separate categories. By
(25:47):
the way, most people conflate the two because the industry
as a whole wants you to. But I don't want
you to conflate those two things together. I don't want
you to get them mixed up and confused. There is
something very very different between luxury, which is, you know,
all sorts of expensive stuff, and custom, which is tailoring.
(26:08):
That's essentially what it is. You know, I say this
all the time. I'll say to you again. You could
go on a shopping spree and go find some fancy
shirt in some high end store and go down to
Rodeo Drive and pull a ten thousand dollars silk shirt
off of the rack down there and walk out feeling
(26:30):
like a million bucks. You'd have to have a million
dollars to buy a ten thousand dollar shirt and feel
good about it. But the point is this, that was
still a shirt that was made for a kind of
sort of person, hopefully sort of your size, but it
was not designed for any one individual personally. Or we
(26:53):
could go down to I don't know, the fabric store
like Joeanne Fabric or wherever and buy a bolt of cotton,
good old fashioned, just knit cotton, and hand it to
a tailor and spend a little bit of money, having
every inch angle and measurement on you fitted into that shirt.
(27:17):
And you know what I'm saying. I'm saying, I'm betting
ninety nine nine, nine hundred and ninety nine times out
of a thousand that not the ten thousand dollars shirt,
that little cotton shirt becomes your favorite shirt. Why because
it's custom tailored to you. That's what a custom home is.
A custom home does not need to be a luxury home.
(27:40):
A custom home is a home that is your home,
fit for your life. And around here we like to
say that custom is the ultimate expression of luxury. That's
really where it's at. Anyway, just wanted to encourage you
with that tomorrow on the show. By the way, before
I get to our last call today tomorrow on the show,
(28:03):
the Deep Dive on the Big Show tomorrow, Ten steps
to finding the right contractor, And I've got my list
made out, I've got lots of insights for you, and
we're going to deep dive on it. So if you've
struggled with that, if you've thought about that, if you're
in that process, you're not going to want to miss
the Big Show tomorrow. Ten steps to finding a right
(28:25):
contractor that'll be right here from nine to noon Pacific
time tomorrow. Just make the adjustments wherever you are and
join me for that very special show. All right, it's
an all call Saturday morning. I've got time to do
one more hit. Let's talk to Ryan. Hey, Ryan, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Good morning. Our neighborhood is a late forties neighborhood, frame
construction homes on raised concrete foundations. The homes were stuccoed
all the way down to the ground and even underneath
the ground a little bit. Ye a combination of reality and.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Weed eaters.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
The bottom about foot of stucco is just completely destroyed
all the way around. We were thinking of having it redone,
and we're wondering about either what to put at the
bottom or having it cut up like a foot or
half a foot or something and putting in a weep
screed under the new stucco. What should we do?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
That's exactly what you should do if you're having that issue.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Now.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Some homes have gotten lucky and they've got their stucco
going all the way into the soil and they're not
having major problems with it. But it's not the right
way to do it. It's how it was done back
in the day, because honestly, you know, building science continues
to evolve, and so there were no such thing as
weep screed codes back then, but there is now. And
(29:57):
so what we don't want is we don't want to
put the exterior stucco on the house down in contact
with soil or moisture of any type whatsoever. Because stucco
is concrete, and because water has such a high surface
tension value, it can move against gravity through capillary action,
(30:19):
that's what we call it. Water can climb up inside
a concrete structure at least a foot without stopping. And
that's a lot of water up inside the stucco. And
I get calls all the time. You have people pointing
out to me, my stucco's ruined. Why is it bubbling?
Why am I getting all this white chalky stuff on
the end, you know, why is it peeling off? And
(30:41):
it's always always always water moisture. So yeah, going around
the house cutting back the stucco now, and you don't
have to go to extremes. The coat is very simple.
Stucco should be at least the bottom of the stucco
should at least be two inches above any hard surface words,
if you've got concrete or patios two inches above that
(31:05):
to the bottom of the weep screed four inches above
open soil. Of course you can go higher if you want,
but that's the code, and it's very very effective. A
weep screed, by the way, everybody, is a flashing that
is triangular shaped. It has a full flashing on the
top where it catches moisture from the backside of the
(31:26):
stucco and the building paper and channels it out. And
on the bottom of the weep screed there are holes
where the stucco, which always picks up some level of moisture,
is allowed to weep that moisture out from the bottom
edge of the stucco. It also makes very very very
clean finish for the bottom of your stucco all the
(31:46):
way around your house. And no, you can't really see
it because it's a very incognito just a final light.
That's what we call it a screed because it forms
a beautiful bottom line to a stuck go finish on
a house, but above the soil line. And that's the
magic of the weep screen. And yes, any home you
(32:07):
can have the stucco cut back. They've got to break
it up a little bit so they can tie it
properly into the paper and attach the weep screen, and
then they'll repatch that little section. I want you to know, though,
the one thing from the esthetics standpoint, both the builder
and me loves this, and the designer when it comes
to adding weep screed or any kind of stucco patch
(32:28):
around your home, there's no chance whatsoever that that patch
is not going to be visible. Because even if you
use the exact same finish, the exact same technique, the
fact of the matter is, on the day that that
stucco was put on, the guy was applying a certain
amount of pressure and his move his hand was moving
a certain way, and this new stuff. You know, I've
(32:51):
seen some very talented stucco guys try and blend it in,
but they won't. And so the fool proof method for
never seeing any stucco patch is going ahead, patching up
the stucco, getting it done, and then committing to a
new finish coat. That's only the top eighth inch, a
new finish coat of stucco on the whole wall. Okay,
(33:13):
if you do the top coat finish coat new on
the whole wall, all patches disappear, you'll never know that
there was ever a patch and any manipulation of the
stucco whatsoever. So go for the new finish coat, but
have the patchwork done you know wherever you need to
have it done. Ryan, thank you for your question, sir,
(33:33):
great question, great call, great calls this morning. Thanks to
everybody for joining in, and don't miss tomorrow the big show.
We'll be talking about the ten steps to finding a
great contractor can it be done? Yeah, it's so can
be done, but you got to step up and do
the work because this is your home. So you do
(33:54):
your work up front according to our guidelines. You're not
going to have a disastrous it's going to be a
great adventure and you're gonna love the results. That's tomorrow,
don't miss it from nine to noon Pacific time. Until then,
get out into this day and get busy building yourself
a beautiful life, and we will see you tomorrow. This
(34:16):
has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune
into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every
Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and every
Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time. Or anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
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